A Fate Far Worse Than Death
by The Knight of Thirteen
Summary: After hearing a rumor that no one is to ever mess with the Death Scythe named Marie, a man goes to kill her to get a bounty and let the criminal underworld breath a little easier. He is confused by the kind-hearted woman at his mercy, until he hears the clicking.


"Any new jobs floating around?" The man was leaned against a wall, speaking down to an average looking guy dressed in casual street clothes. He was a notorious information broker from another city, but he was doing some business while he was in town.

"Well... there is one very interesting thing I picked up recently, but I'll have to charge you a great deal for it. I paid a small fortune for this info, and I have to say, it was worth it." The information broker grinned and slouched confidently, his hands in his pockets. The taller man didn't know just how fast he would have had his throat cut if he made a move to double cross the visitor.

"Alright, you've been true to your word so far, how much do you want?"

"Double what I just paid you."

"Double?! This had better be some damn good information..." The tall man fished the cash from his pocket and handed it to the broker along with a small neat bundle he had just received.

"The word is, there is one weapon in the city that is a higher death risk than Lord Shinigami. A particularly innocent looking Death Scythe called Marie. Only one person has survived messing with her, and he was released as a warning. But, as far as risk versus reward, she must be an unimaginably valuable target. You can use this information however you like, but if you can get any more info on her, I'll pay you back a bit of this. Clear her off the board, and give me confirmation, and I'll pay it back completely."

"You think she's worth that much? I've seen her I think. She teaches at the school. I've heard she's good, but never that good. What happened to the guy who gave you this info?"

"Oh, he's dead. His own doing, too. He said he was supposed to spread the word, but whatever happened to him drove him insane. Cut his wrists right in front of me. Granted, I let him borrow my knife, so he was only being polite enough to return it." The tall man looked down at the broker with a new sense of unease.

"I'll keep all that in mind."

"It was a pleasure doing business with you. I hope we can deal again before I leave town."

"Yeah... sure..." He turned and walked down the alley and out onto a dark street. Like hell he'd ever speak to that creep again. They all said Izaya was the best information broker out there. He'd just get second rate information from now on, if that was the case.

"Here. Remember, this information is valuable, and you're the only one I've sold it too. Just a little reminder." As he walked past, he dropped a piece of paper in the tall man's hand. Unfolding it, he found his address, the name of his mother, and the names and addresses of at least five of his childhood friends. He shivered.

* * *

"Marie, I'm going to be in late tonight. Don't wait up." Doctor Stein pulled his stitched lab coat over his shoulders and walked out of his lab, stuffing a pack of cigarettes into an inside pocket, next to his favorite scalpel.

"Alright, I'll leave something in the fridge for you to eat when you get back. It will be the thing that looks like it has been cooked, just so you don't eat one of your experiments." She made a face of disgust as she looked at the contents of the fridge.

Stein didn't respond. He was already out the door. She sighed and went about her day. She had classes to prepare for on Monday, and she wanted to be able to relax this weekend, so she was getting it out of the way early.

After cooking, cleaning a bit, and putting her lesson plan together, Marie was exhausted and ready for bed. She looked at the clock. It was eleven in the evening, and long since dark. She knew that when Stein said late, it could be anywhere from midnight to next week, so she decided waiting would be foolish.

She showered and dressed in an outfit she knew that Stein liked, then crawled in to bed, hoping the scientist would wake her when he returned. He rarely did. As silent as the grave, until he began twisting that screw.

* * *

She'd been asleep for a number of hours when she was startled awake by movement nearby.

"Mmm... Stein? Are you home? What time is it?" Her eyes widened when she saw the tall man standing beside her. The empty syringe in his hand made her heart sink. This was never supposed to happen again. She'd made Stein release the last man who had broken into the lab with nothing visibly damaged in hopes he would warn the other criminals of Death City to stay away.

She'd been disappointed. She tried to transform her arm and strike him, but found herself immobile. A muscle paralyzing drug. Probably from Stein's collection. She whimpered. Even her mouth didn't want to obey her, as the drug spread through her. She prayed the drug would stop her heart. She didn't want to be here when Stein returned.

"Now... I think I'm going to have a little fun with the high and mighty death scythe before I kill you and empty the place out." She shook her head. If she could only speak...

"What's that? You don't want to have any fun with me? Would you rather me kill you first, then have my fun? Well too bad! Corpses aren't my thing!" He laughed and grabbed her roughly, dragging her from the bed and forcing her into a kneeling position on the floor.

"Run..." She managed to squeak out.

"Run? You think I'm scared of you when you can barely speak? Ha! You're powerless, woman. And after tonight, I'm going to be a rich man, and a lot of low lives are going to be a little less scared to come into this part of town." He stepped closer to her and kicked her roughly in the stomach. The adrenaline from the impact allowed her to speak for a moment.

"Not me... Run... For yourself... Please... Run..." The man raised an eyebrow. He had to admit, he was a little curious.

"And what, Miss Death Scythe, am I supposed to be running from?" Just then, the two heard the front door slam closed. Marie's eyes widened.

"Kill yourself. Please... It will be better for you if you just die quickly now..." He couldn't help but feel a tremor of terror run up his spine. He stepped back and suddenly stopped.

"What the hell? I can't move my feet! I'm stuck! Ah! I feel something moving in my feet!" He looked down and saw small glowing golden stitches working their way through the floor and the sides of his feet. He could feel the tendrils moving like worms all the way up to his knees. His eyes stretched in horror as his hand opened and his knife fell to the floor.

"I'm sorry... I'm so sorry for what is going to happen to you now... But you brought it on yourself." That was his breaking point. He was shivering uncontrollably now. He tried to bend down and grab the knife, but his body wouldn't obey him. He tried to turn and look as the door to the room creaked slowly open, but his neck held firmly in place. He was gasping for air, but couldn't scream.

_Click.. click.. click.. click.. click.. click.._

His heart may have stopped. He couldn't hear a thing, but the most unearthly clicking that had ever met his ears. He felt nauseous with fear. His chest was bursting with his collected air, but he couldn't make his lungs contract to call for help.

_Click.. click.. click.. click.. click.. click.._

He heard the slow even foot steps drawing closer behind him. He saw the woman he thought was so dangerous turn her face away, tears falling down her cheeks. He felt as though his blood had been replaced with ice.

_Click.. click.. CLICK!_

"What do you think you were doing to my weapon?" The voice behind his ear was from another world. Cold as an arctic night, and smooth as silk. He felt a hand, cold as his voice, and strong as steel, clamp onto his shoulder. The tendrils moving in his legs vanished, and now he could scream.

His voice echoed off the walls of the building. Down the long hallway and through every room. Far away, where the nearest neighbors lived, his screams still carried. But no one was coming to help him. They all knew there was only one reason for that sound to be coming from that place. Someone had tried to hurt Marie. And they all knew, nothing could save him except for a merciful bullet between his eyes.

He was lifted bodily onto a long, flat, white table. He was blinded by the bright light over his face, but his screams never stopped. He would scream until his lungs burned and his body cut him off and drew air on its own, then he would begin again. Then he saw the face of the man he had only heard until now.

His hair was silver white, and large round glasses covered his eyes, reflecting the light and the stretched and screaming face of the would-be murderer himself. A giant metal screw stuck out of the man's head and as the victim screamed and stared, the captor reached up and began twisting the screw.

_Click.. click.. click.. click.. click.. click.._

He felt droplets of blood on his face. He had screamed until he was bleeding, somewhere along the path from his lungs to the merciless man before him, he was bleeding. The pain was building. He felt the familiar writhing inside his arms and legs as the golden stitches attached him firmly to the table and the man took a piece of metal form his coat pocket.

The man let his screams die in his bleeding throat. It was a scalpel. A razor sharp, and surgically clean blade. In the handle was etched the name of his captor. The name the woman had mentioned. The name that would be burned into his eyes and ears for all the ages of the afterlife.

Stein.

He felt tears running down his cheeks and over his ears, but he couldn't comprehend something as trivial as irritation with the terror crowding all else from his heart.

"Do you want to know what I am going to do?" The doctor's voice was low, steady, and eerily calm.

The man could only stare.

"I'm going to take you apart. First, I'll split you open... Here. The doctor pressed a cold finger to the man's stomach, causing him to jerk and twitch, trying to escape the touch.

"I'll pull the skin back, along with the layer of muscle and fat beneath to expose your organs. Then I'll remove the least vital ones, one by one. I'll show you. I want you to know what was once inside you, sustaining your life." The man was trying not to breathe, but his body's will to live was betraying his mind's will to escape.

"Next, I think I'll play with your eyes. I so rarely get to. Animals just can't convey all the emotions that humans can, and it has been decades since Lord Death sent someone to me for punishment or interrogation. I wonder what it will be like for you to look into your own eyes? I'll have to be careful not to damage the optic nerve when I remove the first one, or what good will holding it up to the other do?"

"Please... kill me..." The man could only breath the words. The bloody mess that was once his throat refused true voice.

"Oh no... No... I am rather good at what I do. I promise, you will live for several hours. But in the end, I will hold your beating heart before your one remaining eye, and I will crush it. That reminds me, I need to make sure you don't look away. This will be very educational."

The man wanted to scream again when he felt those golden stitches pull his eye lids wide.

"Much better. I'd hate it if you missed even a moment of this for blinking. If only I could get at your brain before I killed you. Well... I guess you don't really need the parts that control your appendages. I think I can slice out the bits necessary for your arms and legs and give you a good look at them as well. Maybe you'd even like to taste a few parts. Brain is considered a delicacy and even a ritual requirement in some places."

"No... please..."

"Now now... I bet Marie begged you as well, but did you listen? No. That was a very bad mistake. Before the sun rises, you will understand just how bad of a mistake it was."

The doctor never raised his voice. He never rushed, nor did he let any emotion slip into his tone. He set a number of implements on a slanted table in full view of his victim. He let a smile spread over his face. It slowly turned into a grin that would make a keshin run in terror.

"When I am finally finished with you, I will destroy your soul. It is a keshin egg, but my Marie will not consume you. I will burn your soul with my wavelength, and tear it apart as slowly as your body. It is time for us to begin. Are you ready?"

* * *

"Stein... He's dead, isn't he?"

"Yes. He is dead."

"Was he a keshin egg at least?"

"Yes. But you will not eat his soul. It's gone."

"Gone?"

"Yes."

"Please... Please never do that again..."

"I will not allow anyone to harm you."

"He hadn't... Not yet... You could still have spared him... Or at least just killed him..."

"He would have. He would have raped you and murdered you. His intentions were as bad as his actions and were punished accordingly."

"Stein... Mercy is the mark of a great man."

"I am not a great man, Marie. I am a monster that you have the unique ability to tame."

"You are no monster. You are a man, and a great one. I love you, Stein."

"Beauty and the Beast. Only my twisted horror is less superficial, and your beauty reached deep."

"Will you do this, for me? Never subject any living being to that again, while I am alive? If they ever kill me, may God have mercy on their souls. But while I am alive, just kill them. Please... For me?"

"For you?"

"Yes."

"Alright. But only ever for you. I love you too, Marie."

She leaned against him and closed her eyes, feeling his strong arm wrap around her back as they sat on the roof, watching the sun rise. Stein's coat still splattered with blood was laying a few feet away, dripping off the roof and onto the sidewalk below.

* * *

_**So? What do you think? I usually prefer fluff, but when Stein is involved, i think that there is a major limit to just how fluffy things can get. So i decided to try my hand at horror. Sorry about the original lack of breaks during time skips, this site is a pain about deleting whatever i try to use. This time it was three asterisks, and it still deleted them! But the breaks are in now! Review please! I might write more then!**_

_**Also, guest appearance of Izaya from Durarara. The twisted arrogant flea...**_


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